Welcome to the Caribbean, Cpt Amelia
by Stutley Constable
Summary: How Captain Jack Sparrow really got off that island. This is not "Fangirl fluff". It's a swashbuckling good yarn with pirates and cannibals and hair raising adventure. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Legal Note: I do not own any of the characters associated with Pirates of the Carribean or Teasure Planet. I do not have any legal right to use them or any other proprietary words originating from these movies. This story was done just for the fun of it not for profit. If you like it please tell me. If you don't like it please tell me why with particulars but not excessive detail. Any one who wants to rip on my style or me just to make them self feel better is really only polishing their wand and their statements will receive the due amount of interest (i.e. NONE). And finally before any one brings it up: I do know my punctuation stinks. I just don't care.

Summary: How Captain Jack Sparrow really got off that island.

**Welcome to the Caribbean, Cpt. Amelia.**

**Chapter 1: By the Fire  
**

"Mind if I share your fire?"

Jack jumped at the sound of the voice. His heart racing, eyes wide he spun to his feet drawing his sword feeling the old familiar leather against his palm. At the edge of the firelight stood a very tall hooded figure. A tall, slender and feminine hooded figure. The voice had been British and cultured. A pleasant sounding woman's voice.

"I only been 'ere one day." Jack said half to himself squinting at the figure. "Can't be 'allucinating a'ready. Can I?"

"Sorry. What was that?" The hooded woman asked cocking her head slightly.

"Nothing, my dear." Jack smiled his best toothy grin, gold teeth glinting. He slapped the sword back into its sheath. Sweeping off his battered hat he gave an ostentatious bow. "We'come to my fire. An' glad I am for the cump'ny." There was a gentle breeze from the ocean that stirred the flames into greater light and Jack thought he saw a bit of the woman's face. "Allow me to introduce myse'f. Captain Jack Sparrow, at your service, miss." He bowed low again.

"Captain Amelia at yours." She gave a brief bow and stepped closer to the fire. She was easily as tall as Jack even with the heals of her tall boots sinking into the sand. "I was under the impression that this island was deserted."

"So was I, miss." Jack indicated a log for the woman to sit on.

"That's CAPTAIN." She said seating herself gracefully.

"Sorry." Jack lifted the bottle he had been liberally imbibing from. "Care for some rum, captain?"

"Yes. Thank you." She took the proffered bottle and gave it a sniff. "What is it?"

"What is it?" Jack squinted at her again. "Why it's the drink of kings! Or at least it should be. It's the elixir of the gods!"

"Indeed? Then it should be safe enough." Amelia followed these rye words by tipping the bottle up for a large swallow instantly regretting it. She coughed and sputtered jerking the bottle away to arms length. Jack then noticed she was wearing what appeared to be long white gloves the fingers of which ended in very sharp claws. "Good lord, man! Your gods must be hearty folk to swallow that!"

"It's an acquired taste I s'pose." Jack retrieved the bottle and settled back against the log. He was trying to see past the hood to the face beneath. "So what brings you to this paradise, miss? Um... Captain."

She regarded him a moment as if deciding what to say. "I'm careening my boat."

"Strike a rock did you, luv?" Jack chuckled but his ears perked up at the mention of a boat.

"Cpt. Sparrow, I am not your love. And you can save such clap-trap for your ... sea port floozies." The voice was haughty and dripped with distaste. "Understood?"

"Not meaning offense, ma'am. Just an expression." He placated the hooded woman. If she really did have a boat it would be two days maybe three of sailing and he should be able to get where a new ship would be readily available and then on to find the Pearl. He just needed that boat.

"In a way I did strike a rock. Yes." The meteorite had punched a whole through the sail of the longboat and normally that would have been no problem but it had seriously damaged the power coupling that enable the sail to charge the drive. Amelia had barely been able to bring the little vessel down safely and this island, so remote from the many occupied territories, had seemed ideal to make her repairs.

"Mind if I ask what a lone woman, cap'n though you are, was doin' in a boat this far out?" Jack wanted to know if any one would be looking for her.

"I suppose I can tell you." The hood turned slightly in his direction and a wisp of short brown hair escaped the folds. "I am looking for my husband."

"Run off?"

"NO!" Amelia snapped then continue in a gentler tone. "He's a professor of astrophysics. He was chasing a comet. Now his ship has gone missing."

"So you (the loyal wife) set off in a boat to find him." Jack smiled taking another swig of the rum. A professor's wife would mean class. Maybe money. Possibilities?

"I had a ship to start with." Amelia said unhappily. "We got into a fight and though we ran off the attackers the Legacy was badly damaged. She was never built for war. Until she's repaired I thought I would head to another port not far from here and see what I could learn."

"Kingston or Tortuga?" Jack looked again at the woman. She had a very exotic figure. Her legs in those tight boots were exceptionally long and athletic. What sort of woman was made a captain of a ship? He knew of a few pirate captains that were women but this one seemed of the respectable breed. Not a scallywag at all.

"I don't know the name but I had a course heading." Amelia lied. "Once my boat's back in shape I'll get there."

"Been married to this man a while?"

"Two years." Her head dropped slightly and her shoulders sagged. "It's funny. Before I met him my life was a ship and crew. Now..." She trailed off helplessly. Jack held the bottle out to her. She took it and drank more cautiously this time.

"No' so bad the second time is it?" Jack's gold teeth shone in the firelight. He saw her smile in return and realized the teeth were very sharp and gleaming. More like fangs. His eyes narrowed and Amelia noticed. She drew back into the shadows of her cloak.

"So why are you wearin' that hood then, Cpt. Amelia?" Jack said it very slowly, pronouncing each word distinctly.

"It's a cool breeze coming off the sea."

"Warm enough by the fire."

"Well tell me how you ended up here, Captain Sparrow. I don't see a ship." Amelia evaded the subject.

"I'm in the market as it were." Jack shifted a bit hoping for a better angle to see into the shadows of the hood. "Me and my crew were set on a ... business venture. You might say. And there was a disagreement about ... shares. So I told them to let me off and I'd go my own way."

"Marooned you did they?"

"Bloody pirates!" Jack spat and took the proffered bottle. "The deepest, darkest reaches of hell are reserved for mutineers and betrayers."

"I had a mutinous crew once." Amelia said it casually. "Cost me one of the best... No. Make that THE best first officer I ever had."

"Aye. A good first mate is a hard thing to find." Jack drank again and handed the bottle back to her. He dug in the sand and came up with another one. "Here's to good officers." He said holding out the new bottle in a toast.

"Mr. Arrow." Amelia raised her bottle and clinked it with Jack's then they both took long pulls.

"What did you do with 'em?" Jack asked her.

"Most of them died a firry death but the others stood before the gaol." She drank again. "You know, I could get used to this stuff." Her words were getting soft around the edges.

"So, lass, when are you goin' to show me what's under that hood?" Jack asked slyly. With luck she might be missing her husband a little more than she made out and be in need of comforting.

"I don't want to scare you. And it's captain, captain." Amelia chided him. "My rum's gone." Her words were slightly plaintive.

"Why's the rum gone?" Jack demanded.

Amelia burped and held the bottle upside down.

"Oh. Never mind, luv." He scrambled to his feet. "There's more."

When Jack returned from a short sojourn into the night he had three more bottles and was staggering only a little. Once more he plopped down next to the log and rested his back against it.

"Now, Cpt. Amelia, if you take off that silly hood and let a man have a look at your face I'll give you one of these."

"I tol' you. I don' wan' to scare you." Her words were slurring badly now but she seemed to have no trouble sitting upright.

"Come on now, Amelia. You aren't ugly are you?"

"I'm considered quite attractive among my people! Thank you very much, Cpt. Sparrow!"

"If you say so." He shook his head feigning disinterest.

"Very well. But if you go running off into the night all I can say is I tol' you so." With that she stood not to steadily and flung her cloak completely off. There in the light of the fire she stood in her blue uniform jacket with the gold epaulettes and her silk breaches tucked into the thigh boots she wore so very well. Jack started at her legs and moved his gaze up until he came to her face. For a moment he just blinked. Then when he was sure of his eyes he started violently back. She was a six foot tall cat! She gave him a mocking smile with a raised eyebrow.

"Didn't run after all." She purred.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Morning on the Beach**

Captain Jack Sparrow, lately captain of the Black Pearl, rolled onto his side and moaned. He felt awful. It was hot. He smelled smoke. Smoke?

"Fire!" Snapping bolt upright Jack feared the entire ship was aflame but blinking his eyes at the rising sun he remembered. The island. Barbossa. The Pearl was gone. Bloody pirates. Close by was the fire and half a dozen bottles. Empty bottles.

"God. No wonder I feel like this." He grumbled as he shook the sand out of his hat. Then he remembered the woman in the night. Must have been drunk. A cat? Where had a cat come into all this? He stood and flexing his stiff muscles he gazed around the stretch of beach and out across the horizon hoping for a sail but knowing there would be none. As he bent to pick up his pistol and sword belt his eyes flicked across tracks in the sand leading off around the curve of the beach. He stopped. Looked back up. Yes those were definitely tracks in the sand. Some coming. Some going. He hadn't been that way. The woman! Her boat. Jack smiled.

There it was. Jack had followed the trail in the sand to a low, grassy dune and spied a little way down the beach a strange looking boat. It was larger than a typical ship's boat but that wasn't what was strange. It rested lightly on three metal legs protruding from its hull. At the rear was what looked like a large iron stove and fins of some sort. With all that weight how could this thing float? Suddenly a figure sat up in the boat. It was her! Sitting there with her back to him was the woman of last night. Jack weaseled his way through the grass and approached cautiously across the sand.

"So 'ere you are, miss. I thought I dreamed you."

"That is CAPTAIN." Amelia did not bother to turn around. "If you were trying to startle me you should have washed first."

A little crestfallen Jack sniffed at his shirt. "It's the rum i'n't it?"

"It is. Much better once you're used to it. I admit. But the smell does linger." Amelia smiled as she finally turned to face him. Then frowned when he jumped back and his jaw dropped. "We aren't going through all that again are we?"

"Through wha'?" He said not to brightly.

"The whole "You're a cat?" routine."

"But you are a cat."

"No. It's like I explained last night. Don't you remember?" Jack shook his head clearly bemused by what he saw. "I am... Oh. Never mind. It's not important."

"But you're a cat."

"Captain Sparrow," Amelia was trying to be patient. "I am not a cat. I don't even know what a cat is. And believe me when I say this. It is NOT important."

"But you're..."

"Captain Sparrow!" Anger flashed in those all to predatory green eyes. Then more calmly she said. "I have to repair my boat."

"Boat." The word brought Jack back to more solid ground. "Wha's wrong with it then? I mean aside from that bloody great piece o' iron in the stern."

Amelia had turned back to her repairs now and was fiddling with something under one of the thwarts. "I thought it was just one of the couplings for the sail manifold but it turns out the feed back from the meteor strike over loaded the secondary drive crystal. Shattered it I'm afraid." Suddenly something gave and she drew out a long sliver of ruby and held it to the light. "That's what I feared."

"Looks fine to me." Jack's voice was husky with greed. His fingers fairly twitched with desire for the rich, red gem as big as his thumb.

Amelia tossed it carelessly into the sand. "Worthless. Broken into three or four pieces and they are being the devil to remove." She sighed as she went back to work.

"Three or four pieces you say?" Jack snatched up the shard and held it to the sun.

"Yes and these are bigger which makes it even harder to get them out." Another crystal tumbled through the air and landed at Jack's feet. It was indeed larger than the first. "Naturally I have to get them free before I can get the coupling loose because they jammed the linkage tight when the crystal broke."

Jack picked up the second shard and looked at it grinning like a cat. Which he thought Amelia would not understand but it didn't matter because presumably she was a cat that didn't know what a cat is. Or was. Or... The boat. She was trying to fix it and if she fixed it then he could get to another port and find Barbossa and get the Pearl back!

"Wha' can I do to help, captain?"

"Not very much. Unless you happen to have a crystal that would fit my drive conduit." She came up with the last three pieces of the ruby and tossed them to Jack. He fumbled and managed to catch two of them. "I don't suppose you have one of those stashed away with all that rum we were drinking."

As he stooped to gather in the last piece Jack realized that indeed he did know where such a crystal was. He came up grinning with all of his gold teeth shining in the early morning sun. His hangover and cats forgotten.

"Pelegosto."

"Pelegosto?" Amelia asked. "Is that like a cat?"

"No, miss. It's an island."

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Setting Off**

"Island? Where?" Amelia stood up and propped a foot on the gunwale of the boat. She had picked up her spyglass and was making an adjustment to a little nob on its side.

"Unless I'm very far off on where we are it should be about seventy miles or so in that direction." Jack waved his hand at a point on the horizon.

Amelia raised the glass to her eye and panned it back and forth a moment. "Do you mean the one with the rather large mountain and dense under growth?"

"This is the Caribbean, ma'am. Every island has a moun'ain and under growth." He leaned on the boat. "O' course we still have to get there." Jack was a little down cast now realizing they had no way off this island with Amelia's boat being out of action.

"You are certain there is a crystal of this kind and the right size, captain?" She was continuing to look through the spyglass while making minor adjustments to the little nob.

"Oh yes, captain. Might be larger for all the good it'll do us." Jack flipped his hand dismissively toward the unseen island. "See we don't 'ave a ship. With a ship we could be there in maybe a day if the wind were right but we 'aven't got one so we aren't gettin' there any time soon. Savvy?"

"Did you ever notice that your accent gets stronger the faster you speak?" Amelia collapsed the spyglass still starring toward the horizon.

"Wha' accent?"

"Never mind." She said. "I can get us there."

"You can?" Maybe cats were more cunning than he thought. "It's nigh on seventy miles. It might as well be on the moon without a ship."

"I could get us there too. It would be harder to get us back but the island will be no trouble." With the decision made she began moving tools around and tidying things up in the boat. "Is there anything you can think of that would help us get the crystal?"

"Aside from a ship and crew? No." He felt it best not to tell the whole truth but to tell enough that he could convincingly claim he had.

"Well then, Cpt. Sparrow, I suggest you gather up whatever odds and ends you want to take with you while I get the boat ready to sail."

"Thought you said it was broke."

"It is." Amelia turned a slight frown on him. "It can't go as far as I need it to but certainly with the reserve power it has we can make it to Pelegosto several times over. I would like to get started as soon as may be."

When Jack returned he had brought his jacket and two bottles of rum. After climbing aboard the strange craft and settling down next to the big iron stove he looked at Amelia and nodded. Her eyes narrowed and with a slight mocking smile she flipped a tiny lever and pushed a bit of glass mounted on a flat panel next to her. There followed a loud blasting roar and flame shot out of the stove as the boat lifted from the sand, literally flew out over the water and climbed into the air to ten feet or so above the waves. All Jack could do was hold on to his hat and the gunwale for dear life. Then remembering he was Captain Jack Sparrow he assumed a fierce grimace, settled his hat firmly onto his brow and leaned forward into the rushing wind.

"We'll be there in about twenty minutes." Amelia called over the noise. "You're sure you remember where this crystal is?"

"Yes." Jack shouted back to her. "It's in a cave on the side of a cliff at the north end of the island. You can't see it from the water. Have to follow a trail around the edge of the beach and through some trees. Then there's the cliff to climb but it's no' so difficult."

He was making it sound all so easy and normal that Amelia felt that he was leaving something out. She could not be sure what it was. Her long experience told her though that it would not be good.

The small ship's boat made very good time over the water and in fifteen minutes the grey-blue shadow of the small island appeared on the horizon. It rested like a lone dark cloud on the turquoise sea. Still leaning into the wind Jack marveled at the speed of the boat. Nothing he had ever experienced could compare. In the distance the island grew until the massive rock of the mountain and the green of the palms were clearly distinguishable. Amelia skillfully handled the boat's rudder and brought them to the narrow beach on the north side of the island before she slowed it to a smooth glide.

"It's over there where the stream comes out. See the split in the cliff wall?" Jack could almost speak at a normal volume now that the firry rocket of the iron stove was rumbling low. He was hoping that their approach had not been heard.

Amelia brought the boat up onto the beach and deployed the landing struts. She would normally have flown it straight into the cleft but with it running on reserve power she did not want to risk having no place to set down which would necessitate leaving it in hover mode somewhere.  
Jack leaped over the side like he owned the place. Hitching up his belt he began to stride for the head of the trail.

"Cpt. Sparrow," Amelia called to him. "Perhaps you would care for one of these?"

"One of what?" Jack turned just in time to catch the musket she threw to him. It was large like the british Brown Bess muskets carried by that nations marines but there were what appeared to be pieces of glass inlaid in a brass plate where the lock should have been.

"Ever used anything like that before?" Amelia reached into the small arms locker in the bow of the boat and came out with another of the muskets, a pistol and a long straight bladed sword.

"A musket? Of course I have."

"Well don't try ramming anything down the barrel." Amelia held up her own weapon. "Before you fire it grasp it here and pump it once. There are only a hundred rounds in it so be sure to make them count if we get into some action."

As Amelia marched past him toward the trail Jack was staring slack jawed at the weapon. A hundred rounds? He thought. Well what did you expect from a six foot talking cat that had a boat that could fly, Jack?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Pelegosto**

They were well into the jungle now making for the base of the cliff where according to Jack the climb would be easy.

"Doing all right back there, luv?" Jack was in good humor.

"Captain Sparrow, I find it tiresome that you insist on being so insultingly informal." Amelia was not doing all right. She didn't like the claustrophobic confines of the trees. They hung over the trail and bordered it in such prolific quantities that she couldn't see more than a dozen paces in any direction. This was not the deck of a ship. "If you must be informal then I will grant you permission to address me as Amelia. Do not, I warn you, abuse that privilege."

"Very gracious of you, Amelia." Jack stopped and turned cool eyes on her. "You know something? I understand that it grates on you. My ways being different than yours. I do. But have you not considered that per'apse your ways grate on me? I speak the way I speak because that's the way I am. I let you speak and act the way you do because that's the way you are. I don't call you out on it at the drop of a hat do I? Now we need each other, captain. I need you to get what you want so that I can get what I want. Which is quick passage to Tortuga. After that we go our own ways. Savvy?"

"Savvy." If Jack's eyes had been cool Amelia's now burned with a savage, angry light that fairly scorched him. She did see the truth of his words though and that restrained her from the biting scorn she would normally have vented had another addressed her so. "Lead on, Cpt. Sparrow."

Jack did not gloat over his victory for he knew that he had just pushed a very dangerous person to the upper limit of tolerance. Cat though she was somehow she had become a captain which meant that she was resourceful and strong willed. She would certainly be a handful for any fellow who would choose to cross swords with her. Jack wondered idly what sort of man could marry such a creature. Must have nerves of steel and muscles of iron. What the hell was astrophysics anyway?

They had begun climbing steadily up the jungle shrouded slope and were about a mile from the shore when Jack decided to stop for a rest.

"No need to stop on my account, Cpt. Sparrow." Amelia said as she came along side of him. She had spoken not a word since the earlier incident.

"That's good to know, Amelia, but I'm tired." Jack sat down on the gnarled root of a massive tree around which the trail curved. "Besides this is one of the few level spots we'll find before reaching the cave.

"You've been here many times?"

"No. Only once before." From one of the voluminous pockets of his jacket he drew a bottle of rum. "Care for a dram?"

"No. Thank you but it's too hot for that." Amelia went on with her thought. "Why did you come here the last time?"

"To get the gem o' course." Jack sipped from the bottle.

"Why did you not get the gem?" Her eyes had narrowed again. Her gaze intense.

"We didn't quite make it to the cave. At least not inside."

"Who do you mean? And why did you not make it into the cave?"

"Well it was me and some of the lads from my crew." Jack smiled winningly. "We heard about this gem. The eye of Pelegosto it was called. Well we nosed around an' found a bloke who'd actually laid eyes on it."

"Captain Sparrow, you are not answering my question." Amelia said in a voice that could crack stone. "Why did you not make it into the cave?"

"Well, it's like this. Some one was there before us." Suddenly uncomfortable under her eyes Jack stood and began to walk slowly around the little clear space but Amelia's eyes followed him.

"Some one?" Her eyebrow rose and she took on a very disapproving air. "The owners of the gem I take it."

"Well no one actually owns it." Jack raised a finger as though he were making a crucial point. "They..."

"They own it if it's on their island. Or at least YOU do not." She rounded on him. "I can not believe I have been this much a fool! You were going to steal this stone weren't you? And I was going to help! I can... It must have been that cursed rum! My wits were addled! Come on. We are getting out of here."

"But you need the gem! I need the gem!" He got no reply as she stormed off down the trail back towards the beach and her boat. "Amelia!"

Jack finally caught up to her about a quarter mile down the trail. Say what he would she remained fumingly angry as much with herself as with him. Suddenly she rounded on him again with her gleaming teeth bared.

"Captain Sparrow, you are a pirate! I suspected as much this morning when we were discussing the crystal but now I am convinced of it."

"Of course I'm a pirate an' a bloody good one. The best you'll ever meet."

"Oh yes I can see that! No ship. No crew. Stinking of rum."

"I am going to get the Pearl back!" Now his teeth were bared. Thoughts of Barbossa and the mutineers fueled his anger.

Any second the swords would flash and blood would spill but neither could stop it. They wrangled and fumed spitting curses at each other. Then Jack froze and his eyes focussed past Amelia's shoulder. She was breathing heavily and about to say something more when he made an urgent motion to quiet her. Still angry and with her hand on the hilt of her sword she went silent. Jack's eyes roved around the small clearing."

"Hear that?" He asked.

"What? There's nothing to hear." Her voice fairly dripped scorn.

"Exactly." In answer to her look he said. "No sounds. Something is wrong."

"Tosh!" She scoffed. "Probably frightened everything within sound of our voices."

"We weren't THAT loud."

Just as Amelia was about to answer something bounced off her epaulette. This was followed by a flurry of other small sharp objects flying within inches of them.

"Run!" Jack grabbed Amelia by the arm and pounded down the trail.

"What is it?"

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Cannibals**

"Less talking! More running!"

"Captain Sparrow, what is happening? Why are we under attack?"

"Blast you, woman! Just run!"

But it wasn't in Amelia's nature to run. More so at this moment because her blood was up after the argument they had been having. At the next bend in the trail she planted herself and unslung the musket from her shoulder. With a pump to charge the chamber she fired several blasts back up the trail shattering trees and branches. There was no sign of pursuit. With a quick self satisfied nod she spun round and stormed after Jack in long, graceful bounds catching him in short order.

"You can stop running, captain. I've dealt with them."

"The ones behind us you mean?"

"Naturally."

"Those ain't the ones I'm afraid of." Jack continued to race down the forest trail toward the beach. Amelia sprinted after him.

"There are more then and you fear they've cut us off."

"You talk too much." Jack snapped.

As they neared the beach Jack finally slowed his manic pace and they jogged to the last turn in the path where Jack crossed into the lush under growth and stealthily crept towards the edge of the forest. Amelia made no sound at all as she stalked after him. Her ears flicked forward and back unconsciously searching the trees for any sound that might warn of danger. When they were near enough to the beach to see the boat clearly Jack gave out a hissing moan and twisted with frustration. Coming up along side him Amelia saw the cause. Around the boat stood about twenty nearly naked dark skinned men with primitive spears and what appeared to be wooden sticks of unknown use. Some wore white streaks of paint and many had tattoos of barbaric grandeur. They seemed to be discussing the boat and gesticulating wildly as if pantomiming the flight path it had taken. One continually pointed to the path and the tracks that Amelia and Jack had left in the sand.

"This is what you expected then?" Amelia asked the grimacing pirate.

Glowering he replied. "Course it bloody is, woman."

"Captain, curb your passion." Amelia cast flinty eyes on him. In their depths violence unslaked lay waiting. "We must act."

"There's a' least twenty of 'em." Jack breathed letting his temper cool and getting his head around the problem.

"If we charge now we can scatter them and make the boat." She smiled thinly with gallows humor. "They might kill us, man, but they shan't eat us."

"No? They're cannibals. Though I suppose in your case they wouldn't be. Or rather they would be just not because they were eating you. You being a cat and all."

"Captain." She growled through clinched teeth.

"Hmm? Right." Jack turned his attention back to the beach. "Aye, we need to act but we have to wait for the opportune moment."

"And that would be?"

"I usually know the answer to that but I'm caught a little short on this one."

"I suggest we withdraw to a less vulnerable vantage point. There may be more of them about."

Jack, having no better idea, nodded and they moved deeper into the jungle and paralleled the beach with Amelia in the lead. They moved down what appeared to be an animal trail for a short distance when Amelia stopped abruptly. Her ears twitched forward then back. Jack peered around through the gloomy shadows that over hung them.

"Company." Amelia whispered. As the word left her lips the all to familiar hiss of something sharp flying through the air broke in on them. As before there was a flurry of the small darts and as before the two captains bolted down the trail to get clear of the ambush. Whistles and shouts sounded all around them while their pursuers closed in. The forest opened up before them as the slope of the mountain's foot grew rocky. Amelia leaped and bounded over boulders and tree stumps. Jack darted through bushes and under branches barely able to keep up with her lithe form. Though she could easily have out distanced the man Amelia was loath to leave him behind. Even a pirate deserved better than to end up as dinner. She sprang to the top of a large boulder and checked her head long rush. Before her the ground had split open to fall off some fifteen fathoms to a rocky stream bed. The gap was no more than twenty feet. She could easily leap that distance but Sparrow would never make it.

"Jack, stop!" She shouted. Jack badly winded stumbled to a stop at the foot of her boulder and looked out over the cleft. Suddenly his knees gave out and he collapsed. Amelia was at his side in an instant.

"Are you injured?"

"A dart." Jack reached around to the small of his back and pulled it free. In his hand was a a thin needle of wood as long as his finger with a tuft of bright red fluff lashed neatly to one end. "Not meant to kill. See? Drug of some kind."

"We'll have to make a stand then." With a grip much stronger than Jack would have guessed she lifted him to a sitting position against the boulder. "Can you still shoot?"

"You should go, captain."

"And leave you? Never." She primed his musket and handed it to him. "Besides there's a gorge."

"Can you make it across?" Jack saw in her eyes that she could. "Then get across. I'm not being brave, lass. They've got me. You can rescue me if you get away now. If you stand and fight they'll take us. They have more than enough once the rest of them get here."

"How do you know they wont just kill you?"

"What do you think happened to me an' my lads last time?"

"And you were willing to risk it again?"

Jack shrugged. "Pirate. Go on, Amelia. You better take this too. Don't want them getting their hands on some'in like that do we?"

She took the musket from his hand and with great difficulty she forced herself to go to the edge of the gorge. With the muskets slung in an X across her back Amelia leaped arms outstretched for the far cliff face. Her claws dug into the surface and her toes found solid holds. Quickly the captain of the RLS Legacy scrambled up and over the cliff finding the forest and cover just back from its lip. She watched as the natives closed in on Jack. They moved in a cautious mass toward the sitting pirate. He laughed and drank from his bottle of rum until they were right up on him. In spite of his being a pirate Amelia had to admire the man's bravery. His sword and pistol were taken and his bottle was smashed against the boulder eliciting an indignant shout from their captive. Soon they had him trussed up like a hunter's prize and they disappeared back into the jungle singing and laughing in anticipation of the feast to come.


	6. Chapter 6

**WARNIG: This chapter contains a battle. It is not graphic but if your parents don't want you reading this sort of thing ask their permission before you go any further. **

**Chapter 6: The Rescue**

Acalan was angry with the rest of The People. They had not and still would not listen to him. The white man had come in a canoe from the sky. He had walked with the Great Cat of Thunder. The white man must not be harvested. The gods and spirits of the Great Water and the Sky would be angry. They would send Shamatuuva the Sea Fist early this year and he might flatten the Home. He told this to Quauhtli but the fat old chief would not listen. It had been many months since the People had partaken of such a harvest.

"The white men are always softer than the Others." Quauhtli said. "Their flesh is like the banana when roasted. And if this one came from the sky then he has great magic. It will make the People strong! The Others will fear us more."

"And what of the Great Cat of Thunder?" Acalan argued. "She threw fire at Chimalli and his brothers when they tried to dart them. And the darts bounced off of her. She was very fierce!"

"If she was so fierce why did she run?" Itzcoatl demanded. "You are like an old woman! If you do not wish to take the white man's magic then I will take your share and be stronger yet!"

"Silence, Itzcoatl!" Tlacotl the shaman ordered the young warrior. "All will share equally in the feast. That is the way of the People since the time of the First Day. Even Acalan will share because he wishes no ill luck on the People. And it seems to me that the hunters speak much and forget their duty."

"You speak the truth as ever, Tlacotl." Quauhtli raised his spear and blowgun shouting for attention. "The Ten must go and bring the Eye. The Five must gather the fire. The People must prepare the Way."

Jack had awoken to the shouting a few minutes ago. His eyes were blurry so he couldn't quite make out what was around him. He discovered much to his grief that he was standing bound to a thick post with many cords. The cords wrapped his ankles, legs, waist and chest as well as his wrists which had been drawn painfully behind his back. He watched uncomprehending as the crowd of natives dispersed. His sight began to clear a bit and Jack could make out that he was on a raised stone. It was very broad and flat. In front of it was a large scorched stretch of dirt and a semicircle of square boulders. To his back was a huge tree with branches that stretched far out over his head casting a large shadow about the level area. It didn't take him long to decide that he did not want to be here.

When the women brought the stone basin and the jugs of water Jack thought they were about to start carving him but instead they produced large sponges and began to scrub him from his head down to his boots. The water was then poured over the stone and the women scrubbed it with brooms of reeds. While this was going on the men under the direction of five leaders came with bunches of fire wood and began to lay it on the scorched patch all the while chanting. Jack, now thoroughly soaked, was looking around wondering when Amelia would come rescue him. He was still wondering that as the sun began to set and the fire was lit. At least he would get dry.

From the far side of the village there came the light of torches as a small procession advanced toward the flat stone. Born between four stout men and flanked by six others was a roughly human shaped rock. As it came closer Jack could see a ruby as big as his fist mounted in the center of the head. From one of the little huts came a man dressed in a cape of shark skin with a head dress of bones and feathers. The man waited until the company of men with their rock burden was nearly to him. Then he turned and advanced on the fire.

Tlacotl was satisfied. The Way had been prepared and the Five had done What Must Be Done. Now the Ten would bring the Eye before the people and it would witness the Rite.

"We are the People!" Tlacotl called out.

The People replied. "The Way has been prepared! Come children and take of the Way."

Jack had been trying to loosen his bound hands for about ... oh... ETERNITY now. At least that's what it felt like to him. But his wrists were chaffed and his arms were going numb. He saw the heathen idol mounted to one of the stones at the edge of the fire and he heard the chanting of these savages but he neither saw nor heard Amelia anywhere. He worried that perhaps they had caught her but if they had why wasn't she trussed up right next to him? If they hadn't why did she not come shooting her way through these buggers and cut him loose and get the hell out of here?

Two huge natives covered with white paint came from either side of the flat stone. They took hold of the pole and wrenched it from the ground lifting Jack off his feet. As they shouldered the pole a blast of fire struck out from the branches of the tree above him to shatter the idol. Screams and cries of alarm came from the natives. Then there she was. Amelia vaulted from a limb to land lightly at the edge of the stone above the fire. Silence fell. She rose to her full height with her sword in one hand and her pistol in the other.

"The Great Cat of Thunder!" Acalan cried.

"No! It's a woman!" Itzcoatl shouted him down. He slapped one of his friends on the back and glared at him. The man got the point and took up the shout.

"Just a woman! Not a cat!" More of Itzcoatl's friends took up the call and they moved toward the stone.

Amelia found herself caught between two groups of big men and the fire pit. She smiled thinking: Now you've got me right where I want you. With lightning speed she drove into the group on her right striking out with her sword and several kicks. Men fell. Some wounded. Some dead. As the other group rushed on her she fired her pistol into them and they checked their charge. Again she turned on the first group and drove them from the stone. Just as the second group gathered their courage she leaped at them. Her sword whirled and her pistol flared. Chaos reigned. More men pushed up the steps to reach her and she met their charge.

In all of the confusion Jack had been forgotten and he found himself laying nearly immobile next to one of the fallen cannibals. He rolled to get closer and with an effort he was able to catch the man's spear head in his fingers. Immediately he began to saw at the rope around his wrists. As Amelia flung herself into the attack he finally cut through the tough fiber and began to work at the other bonds.

"It is not a woman, Tlacotl." Acalan shouted at the shaman. "It is the Great Cat of Thunder!"

"No!" Itzcoatl bellowed. "It is no spirit. It is just a woman!"

Tlacotl looked at the two men. He hesitated for an instant but said. "If it is just a woman then you go and kill her, Itzcoatl. None of the People seem to be able to do it."

"Jack, I can't hold them off much longer!" Amelia shouted over the din.

"You're doing fine." Furiously Jack sawed at the ropes on his ankles.

"No I'm not!" Amelia was bleeding from a dozen cuts already and she knew that it was only a matter of time before she would be overwhelmed.

Itzcoatl strode onto the Stone of Feasts and pushed his way through the press of the warriors. Several lay lifeless. Others slunk away wounded. Itzcoatl was determined the woman would go into the fire. The other warriors shrank back as the woman turned to face him. She bore the marks of the fight but her green eyes shone with a feral light. A shadow passed briefly over Itzcoatl's heart at her gaze but he shook it off and struck at her. His blow missed but he pressed on.

Jack had seen the huge man push through the others and knew this was real trouble. Finally his legs were free and he sprang up. At least he tried to spring. His muscles were all stiff and he could barely hold the spear as some of the men turned on him. From deep down he roared at them. He was Captain Jack Sparrow the sacker of Nassau Port, the bane of the East India Company, the scourge of the Caribbean! He wouldn't surrender. He wouldn't give up. And he wasn't going down without a fight! Men were pushed screaming into the fire and others were trampled under foot. As Amelia had done at the start now Jack did at the end. He drove into one group and then the other. No thought of escape now. He had lived his life on the bloodied decks of vanquished ships and in the taverns of Tortuga. This was a fight worthy of any gutter or rat hole that ever was and Jack was home.

Itzcoatl's club came down on Amelia's sword and drove her to the stone. She was tired and starting to weaken from her many exertions. Fleetingly she realized that she hadn't even eaten that day. She rolled to dodge another of the brutal blows aimed at her head but the big man stepped on her sword so that she had to let it go. She had no idea what had happened to her pistol and now she faced this brute with only her claws and teeth. He stood above her club raised with a scowl of satisfaction on his face. This was likely the end but she mustered all of her strength for one last lunge. Suddenly the man's face went blank and the club dropped from his lifeless hands. He toppled like a felled oak. Jack with his gold teeth glinting in the firelight stood bloody spear in hand smiling down on her.

"Told you you were doing fine, lass."

"That's captain." She smiled back at him and took hold of her sword. Jack helped her to her feet and they stood back to back ready to face the savages.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:The Many Eyed God**

"What took you so long?" Jack asked over his shoulder.

"I had to wait for the opportune moment."

"So NOW is the opportune moment?" Disbelief roiled in Jack's tone. What went on in women's minds was extraordinary.

"They were scattered out all over the island. I had to wait until I knew we wouldn't be cut off from the boat. And might I say, Cpt. Sparrow, that this is not the time to discuss strategy?"

And indeed it was not, for as they had spoken groups of natives were rallying to come at them again. On either side of the stone platform warriors were beginning to mount the steps with spears ready. From the far side of the fire a shout went up and the two captains braced for a rush but none came. The warriors, some looking relieved, lowered their spears and relaxed. Then slowly they backed away. From out of the crowd two men approached. One young and the other older in ceremonial headdress and garb. They mounted the platform from Amelia's side and with great obeisance advanced to within arms reach. They spoke in a most placatory way and made gestures of peace. She understood not a word but knew that they wanted an end to the fight.

"Any idea what they're saying, captain?" Amelia asked over her shoulder. She had lowered her sword but not yet come off her guard.

"I can catch a bit here an' there, lass, but only a word or two." Jack was still eyeing the warriors who had not yet left the foot of the steps. "Something abou' a big cat and a storm or thunder. I don't know but I think they're talking about you."

The men were waiting for her reply, their heads bowed, eyes cast down. There was something about the older man's costume that looked familiar to Amelia but it was all so out of context. Then it struck her. She reached out and gently took the man's chin in her hand to turn his face to the firelight. Yes. Now it was more clear. The white streaks on his face were arranged as if they were rows of long sharp teeth. His tattoos looked like rows of eyes. Some above his brows on his forehead and some down either side of his nose. Even the strange headdress now took on meaning. A broad brimmed hat.

"Flint!"

"What's that?" The word had been spoken in a hush and had nearly escaped Jack's notice.

"Flint. He was a pirate chieftain years ago." Amelia said musingly. "He struck almost at random all around the galaxy and until a couple of years ago no one knew how. I've never actually seen him of course. A bit before my time. But a friend of mine saw his body and I have seen pictures of the beast."

"Pirate you say? I've never met 'im."

"Nor would you want to, Jack. He wasn't like you. Heartless and cruel beyond measure."

"So what's he got to do with all this then?"

"I think he's been here. These people seem to be... I don't know. Maybe they worshiped him." She released the old man and he cast his eyes down once more. Knowing he wouldn't understand Amelia said to him, "Well if it's peace you want show me."

The old man raised his eyes a little but whispered something to the younger man who backed away to the edge of the stone. He said something to the group of warriors there and in their turn they went off into the village.

"So wha's happening?" Jack asked still guarding her back.

"I'm not sure yet. I think the worst is over." She wiped blood from her cheek and spat into the fire. "Have you any of that rum still about you?"

"Ha. Wish I had, captain. I could use a drop m'self."

The group of warriors now reappeared Carrying two large chairs on their shoulders. These they deposited next to the stone and withdrew a few feet. The crowd now shuffled a bit and knelt on the dirt. The only one still standing was the old man before Amelia. He bowed low and extended his hand toward the chairs.

"Jack, lower your spear and come along. The fight is over and we seem to have won."

The two captains had been carried through the village to a large hut. A fire was lit and many of the villagers had crowded in at one end but few came near to Amelia and Jack. The old man had presented Jack with a sliver of bleached bone which he wove into Jack's hair. To Amelia he gave his shark skin cape with a barbaric golden clasp. She now wore it rakishly over one shoulder. After that the feast had commenced

"I can't make it all out but from wha' I gather this Flint came here some time back." Jack was telling Amelia. "Apparently he came now an' again always with a lot of chests or boxes. But the last time he took it all away 'cept for the eye."

"Well if it was some time ago I'd say he was hoarding his treasure." Amelia said around a mouthful of yam. She was careful to eat nothing that might be meat. "It sounds as though his last trip was to gather it all up and take it off to Treasure Pla... his trove."

"Why would he hoard it?" Jack wondered aloud. "I can understand putting some aside for a stash in case of emergency but what good does treasure do you unless you spend it?"

"You're asking the wrong person, captain. Not in my line at all." she fingered the cape on her shoulder. "So what of this cape then? And that Bone"

"Seems they've made me the chief. One of us killed the old one and now I'm it." Jack swallowed a bite of fish. He too was careful of the meal. "Your cape I'm not clear on. But they think you're this Great Cat of Thunder. Supposed to be the thing that will drive away the Many Eyed God. Did Flint really have that many eyes?"

"Oh yes. And teeth to go with them."

Amelia and Sparrow ate and listened to the tales of Flint with Jack relating them as best he could. Eventually the feast wound down and the villagers began to drift off into the night. At the end Amelia and Jack were taken to a hut and bade to enter. Here they spent the night on surprisingly comfortable mats. In the morning they were awakened by a knocking on the hut wall. Amelia, after donning her jacket and the cape, drew aside the cloth covering the opening and stepped into the early dawn.

"What's all this then?" She asked the uncomprehending old man. He had come with a body of warriors and now stepped back to reveal a small chest.

"Wha' is it, Amelia?" Jack asked muzzily poking his head out of the hut.

"Another present I think. You had best join us." she waited a moment for Jack to collect himself and when he stood at her side she waved her hand to the old man.

Tlacotl was very nervous. It still weighed on him that had he not allowed the Rites to proceed Quauhtli and fourteen of his warriors would still be of the People. Now he hoped that the Great Cat of Thunder would be appeased by the offer of this gift and the honor of shaman. He hoped even more that she would go and tell the gods of the Great Water and the Sky to spare the People. Tell them to not send Shamatuuva the Sea Fist to flatten the Home. He bent and opened the lid of the old box and from it he took the EYE. He turned and with eyes cast down offered it to her.

"Looks like you got wha' we came for after all." Jack was smiling. He could get to a port. He could get another ship. He could hunt down Barbossa. And most important of all. Jack could get the Pearl back

**The End**

**Epilog**

"So, Captain Amelia." Jack said to her as they stood on a dock in Tortuga's harbor. It was night and few people were on the water front now. Amelia had brought the boat in just skimming the ocean at a speed that would attract no attention.

"Yes, Captain Sparrow?" She gave no indication of anything but the professional officer.

"I guess we go our separate ways now."

"As we agreed." She nodded.

"Well, captain I have a going away gift for you." Jack drew from his huge pocket a bottle of rum. "Drink it with tha' husband of yours and tell 'im tales of Captain Sparrow. I hope it wont make him jealous."

"I can't really see Delbert drinking this stuff." Amelia smiled fondly holding the bottle. "He has surprised me in the past though. Turns out he can be very resourceful. I'm afraid I didn't think to get anything for you. Rather embarrassing really."

"Oh?" Jack gave her his winning grin. "I can think of one thing you might give."

"Indeed?"

"A kiss?" Jack's smile broadened.

"Cpt. Sparrow. You are a pirate and a rogue." Her voice was flat and disapproving. Jack's expression fell a little. "But you aren't bad looking for a human. You have very nice eyes I must admit." Amelia leaned in and ever so softly kissed him on the lips. She lingered only a moment then withdrew. "You however are NOT Delbert Doppler. Thank God."

She turned and dropped into her boat. "Take care of yourself, Cpt. Sparrow. I doubt any one else will."

"Aye, M' Lady. If you ever need a pirate come look me up. I'll be in these waters for some time to come." Jack watched the little boat until it was lost in the darkness then he turned up the dock and swaggered into Tortuga.

* * *


End file.
